Many years ago I was visiting the Netherlands again. I would soon see a Dutch flatmate from university days. But first I went into some bookstore and picked up this book I'd seen on shelves before. The first thing the book warned me not to do is read the book without paying for it first. So I bought a coffee at their cafe first, then sat down to read the book anyway, almost howling with laughter at what was inside. The first warning about my browsing, followed by two more warnings about how to deal with Dutch people, proved to be so fitting that they perfectly matched every single reaction from the young bookstore employee when I returned my coffee cup. Maybe she was so angry because she'd seen the title of the book I'd been laughing at, but as I told her, I think it was really because I'd read part of the book without buying it first.

Normally I'd be the last person to recommend a stereotype-ridden satire written by a blow through Yank or two, but to quote a bumper sticker which an old British cobbler mentioned to me, after I'd been repeating a list of pronouncements delivered to me by my now old Dutch friend, "You can always tell a Dutchman, but you can't tell him much."